You forgot to mention that original paint brings more value to a car, specially for sports car, you always hear wow when original is mentioned. You can't compare a professional cook with regular joes. PPF or. wrap is subjective. Repainting a car needs a minimum a week, and you need to find a good paintshop that can match the existing paint, PPF is a day max. You can DIY PPF but the material is still expensive and it's not that easy to install a flawless PPF. IMO PPF protects and showcase the colour of the car you ordered, i will do the whole car if money was no object and keep the paint original, I'm doing only the front for my 2024 C8. thanks for the video.
PPF taking a day is exactly the point we’re making, fully painting a car can take a week or more. The labor of a skilled painter is exponentially higher and more expensive than some Joe blow window tint installer who will be installing your PPF. The materials for painting a car cost exponentially more than PPF. The process is far more involved and laborious. So please tell me how PPF should cost anywhere near the same as a paint job? Because it’s done in 1 afternoon? Wouldn’t that mean that it’s relatively easy to do, and the labor costs should be extremely low? So how do we arrive at 6-10k, for 1 afternoon of work, when the materials are a few hundred dollars at most and probably less than that because a lot of the shops are retailers who get wholesale pricing on the film. I grew up around body shops, I know the process for painting a vehicle, it’s literally 1000x the work of PPF installation and the materials are more expensive. So how do you explain the prices being the same? Unless you’re being absolutely scammed. Somehow this industry has fleeced us all into thinking the pricing is normal, it’s not, when compared to virtually anything. I will give them credit PPF installation is maybe the most profitable business in the entire country, virtually 0 overhead, cheap materials, done in an afternoon, 2000-3000% profit on each installation. A couple hundred bucks turns into 9-10k, that might be the most profitable business in the United States, either that or it’s the biggest scam in the United States. Even if you considered the average joe blow tint installers time is worth more than a brain surgeon or rocket scientist, we’re still in the 1000%+ profit range. Just for example 7% is the average profit margin for a small business in the United States, 10% is considered sustainable, 20%-40% would be considered very good/ideal. Could you imagine any other industry with 1000%-3000% profit? The closest I can think of is pharmaceutical companies at 70%. Just for context PPF installation is 20x higher than the most profitable pharmaceutical companies in the world, an industry largely known for being greedy crooks. But hey, get your money I guess.
Yes, I think it makes sense to get the PPF for the full front end for most cars. But also keep in mind after a few years the PPF does show rock chip damage. Little bubbles, etc. they may not be paint damage underneath, but the appearance of damage can still be presented with PPF. Thus in some cases, PPF may need to be redone, which then total comes out to a similar price of re-painting the front end. PPF when you buy the car and then redoing the PPF3 or four years later. And remember any ceramic coating you decided to put on top of the PPF is gone that Hass to be reapplied. There’s no way to put PPF on top of ceramic ceramic must go on top of the PPF.
I do believe in PPF, have it on my two cars. But after seeing the results on older PPF that has aged and trying to remove it is a real pain. My first full hood was destroyed by a big hit after 90-days, a quarter size gash but the repair was to pay another $650 to replace the hood only. Later on the car is hit, again the cost of the PPF was covered but still a cost. Rock chips can damage the paint below, you just do not know until you try to remove the PPF and it peels off the paint. Still I hand wash my cars and even my painted bumpers are torn and pitted on the PPF but they are protected. It is a cost of ownership much like using any type of protection on the clear coat or PPF. FYI, the 10-year warranty normally covers yellowing but not the rock chips so change it sooner than waiting, from one that is removing old ugly PPF.
Just bought a new cuv, OTD price was only $24k. I noticed the dealer had a PPF service, I asked how much it would be to do the whole front end before I drive off the lot, all in all, after some negotiating, $1200 for the front bumper, hood, front fenders and mirrors. Gotta take pride in what you have or you wont take care of the nicer things
so just picked up my 2024 BMW X5 and am seriously considering the PPF but l have questions regarding the maintenance of it. Is wax ever applied? does it maintain the gloss of a painted car? So PPF is better than vinyl wrap? Any issues or tricks needed to wash the car? If i only do the front end will (over time) there be a difference in the surface sheen between the PPF and the painted surfaces?...great, informative and timely discussion.
You don't want to get paste waxes in the edges and don't take a buffer to it. Liquid wax or ceramic is more what it likes. Vinyl and PPF have different purposes - we have a video breakdown on those. If only doing the front end then overtime the back side might really show swirl marks and improper washing techniques - we also have videos regarding that. Our most popular package is front end ppf and ours has a 10 year warranty from XPEL. Check out reviews for your shop and ask to see their install work. Thanks for watching.
If I get PPF only, do I have to be extra careful about washing my car? I typically hand wash my car once a month. Not sure if the soap wash will damage and tear the PPF over time or not.
As someone who just installed full PPF on his brand new Porsche 992, I will say that I truly regret getting PPF. I’d rather have rock chips than that fake, silicone glossy plastic feel of a car.
I'm at a toss up b/n either. I have a 14 981, 19k miles, that had hood and bumper resprayed and flawless. Like glass. Jet black. Bought and drove home 1300 miles. Rock chips everywhere. Had them touched up, then paint correction and decided ppf and ceramic. Touch ups didn't get knocked down enough, and ppf just enhanced where chips are. Should've left alone. Next porsche, old school wax every 6 weeks. Good enough
Thank you for your video. I have a question: my company needs me to put some advertisement stickers on the sides of my car. If I have PPF, can I still put the stickers on. The stickers are applied by soap water and they need to be changed every couple months. Will it destroy the PPF?
My car is completely wrapped in PPF and I still do color change vinyl wrap over it. If done correctly, it shouldn't hurt it at all. The glue in PPF is usually much stronger than reg vinyl so it stays put when the vinyl is removed.
Having done PPF on a few cars, a couple of things come to mind. I struggle with the repaint cost comparison to the original PPF cost. If your obsessive enough to repaint because of rock chips, those same rocks mar the PPF over time. So you may have to replace the PPF for aesthetics - doubling its cost because now you’ve done it twice - and making it about the same as the repaint prices Josh was quoted. And there is zero resale value on PPF in my experience. Having said that, a repainted bumper and hood is an negative for resale. I think PPF works value wise on really expensive cars, less so on mass market models. And if I was considering PPF on a new car I’d either do the whole car or none of it. I can always tell when part of a car has PPF, no matter how good the installation is. Just my 2 cents. Great presentation though from Josh as advocate for PPF.
We did a video demonstrating how PPF absorbs the rock impacts, even in extreme scenarios. We also don’t see that much PPF replacement, if we do it’s normally from a track car. You get more resale value from your car looking blemish free, but I think in the video we mention it would be selling to another party not a dealership.
I agree - shit is overrated. I am older so I have owned plenty of cars before ppf. If the cost is reasonable it may be worth it, but some shops are charging 7-10k for full ppf. Ridiculous! It's worth it for an exotic anything else. No.
I just bought a Tesla Model Y Performance, black on black. It is 6 month old and doesn’t have a PPF. I’m going to put PPF. Would you recommend XPEL Ultimate Fusion PPF or XPEL Ultimate plus and put ceramic coat on it?
We think the coating after PPF makes the most sense. The trim plastic and glass need coated still anyway. And we think it provides the best performance, even if similar.
What are your thoughts on stek dyno shield or optical defense ppf? I dont live in your state so i dont have the option going with xpel with someone i trust.
I don't have PPF, but am going to get it applied to my Mercedes S-Class this week. One of the other things to factor for repainting is that bodyshop work I believe is reported to CarFax. Not sure for cosmetic stuff, but any mention of body work on CarFax will lower the value and dealers will ding you for body work on a CarFax. If I could tell the front end was repainted, I'd question whether it was in a wreck or not even if told by the dealer it was a cosmetic repair.
Hi…. Got a Kia Sportage matte finish this week. I’m willing to go head with ppf however the place I went only giving 2 years warranty on ppf. Usually how long the ppf lasts !?
Always a mix of both. We’re constantly bulking hoods for complete coverage and getting in new body style vehicles before the patterns come out. When you know the install process it kinda just makes sense when to use what.
They are becoming more popular. We're starting to do them a lot more now that there are more options and we know more tricks on how to get it to look more seamless.
One thing missing from your price comparison: the PPF cost is in today's money. The paint job (if it's done) is far in the future, let's say 10 years (the length of the PPF warranty); the cost of that same paint job will probably go up 50% or more by then. So the cost differential is even higher. So you may end up living with all the scratches and dings anyway, because who wants to put out so much $ for looks anymore when you have other parts breaking down or malfunctioning...
interesting comments, I am one of those that looks at my vehicle in the morning before my commute and in the evening when I get home. I came off a lease and decided to save cash for a couple of years to purchase my dream vehicle. In the interim I used my 2005 tacoma as my primary vehicle. Normally I use the tacoma for work on the property like move mulch/loam, haul debris to landfill, take my dogs out in the field. Felt compelled to spend 3K on rims and 3.5K to repaint the front end only on the tacoma, all to make it look better in the mornings and evenings. Worth it!
I hope to get a newer Tesla soon and I’m interested in PPF on at least the front of the car. I’m also the type of person that drives through a car wash once or twice a month. Any thoughts on which particular PPF would be good for me or if I should even bother?
Skip the PPF and learn to do rock chip repair instead. PPF introduces a whole set of it's own issues that isn't worth the cost for most vehicles and use cases. There are exceptions, but PPF is overwhelmingly time and money poorly spent.
my local PPF/tint guy is absolutely excellent. He treats every car like his own baby. He probably spend more time covering up the dash, doors and seats with towels, plastic and masking tape because he doesn't want any interior surface to get wet. His shop is also air conditioned to 60 degrees like the cold television studio I worked at. He said it was so that he and his employees do NOT sweat and sit in a customer's car. His prices are actually reasonable and the tint and PPF jobs are meticulous. Life is short... too short... I don't mind spending money for top quality. (within reason, of course) However, if someone tries to charge me top dollars but deliver subpar tint job, I'll be screaming bloody murder on every review website and social medial until Hawaii freezes over.
dings on PPF, does not make sense to put new PPF when number of dings make your car look bad. Would warrant cover the cost replace the old PPF and put a new one? is it hard to remove the old PPF?
Great video. Struggling with this exact decision. $3k to protect a $35k car. Many have tried to convince me to not do it since it’s 10% of vehicle cost. I can’t decide. Obviously if car was $70k is 5%. You make some solid points.
We do a lot of front ends which is where most of the beating occurs. We’ve even protected Chevy Cruises. Our customers love their car just as much as one more expensive.
@@BlackoutTinting I’m concerned about seams. I was going to do typical full front, rockers and back bumper which protects back area from wheel debris. May just go full front which is basically 1/2 the price. Don’t like the patch look behind wheels as once the edges accumulate dirt they stand out like a sore thumb.
I am not a "car person." My car isn't super cheap (Tesla Model Y) but I'm not super emotionally invested in it, I don't really care about this or that car in general except how it relates to making a good buying decision when I need one. That said, I can SEE things. I can see the rock chips, I can see the swirls and things like that, and for me, I just notice it not looking quite as good. When the rock chips get extreme it bothers me; when I see other cars of the same make that look machine-gunned across the rear door quarter I notice it doesn't look good. For me, PPF was worth it at about a 10% MSRP price target, because it is way less expensive than professional body paint work and way less time-consuming than working over every paint chip by myself properly with a touch-up kit. A little bit of hydrophobicity and window ceramic also helps keep the car clean easily. Especially as a non-car person, saving the time to do keep things looking decent is a big plus. I could drive this thing just fine without any protection, with terrible paint at the end of a decade. It doesn't really matter to the function of the car. The ceramic on the glass, maybe a little bit of function to make up for terrible auto wipers. It probably won't really affect the resale as this is far from being "special" or "unique." But for me it saves so much time and is just the easiest way to get continuous piece of mind, so I can enjoy this thing as fully as I can. It helps me feel confident in pounding this car around and it being in good shape without having to spend the effort a real "car person" might.
Have to agree with the others, well made video and effectively explained! Definitely worth getting this message/content translated to the other social media sites like tik tok so it starts to make sense if they are open to listening. Appreciate your honest way of presenting including stating your inherent bias as a ppf installer but then also showing cold hard facts!
In DC its 2500 to do the front end of a normal car. It is $600 for a full repaint of the hood. Cutco knives are the amway of cutlery... they are junk stamped knives. Get a good Japanese knife. PPO is the AMWAY of car care. "nuff said.
respray without the vehicle + new ppf install without the vehicle. Some people don't want it on the carfax that it was repainted and being out the vehicle that long
Great Video. I’ll share this with all the “Chips don’t happen to my car believers”. Will be doing some videos on real world damage to cars here in the NY
Excellent presentation Josh! This was my first exposure to PPF. I knew virtually nothing about the product, process and cost. I spoke to a number of vehicle enthusiasts about the benefits of the services and did my research. I am so glad I had PPF and Ceramic Coating done for my entire 2022 C8 HTC! I am thankful that I trusted you and Blackout Tinting to perform the work. Quality, Quality and Quality Workmanship! It was great working with you and your employees. Thanks again! Doug Weaver
I have bought many Porsches and traded in them. While I’ve been doing these, I’ve learn some lessons. 1. If you want to keep the value of your exotic category cars, you need to maintain good paint conditions. It affects the resale values very a lot. Toyota or Ford buyers do not care the cosmetic problems. They buy cars because they need it. But exotic car buyers care about the cosmetic damages. Because they buy those cars for fun and pleasures. 2. Do not wrap your car. Even tho you maintain your car so perfect and you are the original owner, still you will loose a ton of money when you resale your cars. Many dealers do not even want to buy your car if it is wrapped. 3. When you resale your car, PPF doesn’t affect resale value at all. Still, the film protects the original paint, so your car will hold the value much longer.
Pretty expensive in the US. I had my SUV repainted everything for just $260 from a trusted paint guy here in the Philippines. This includes labor and materials. :) Regular shops costs around $600 last I checked.
Never heard of it, but a lot of films are getting a lot more comparable nowadays. The other part of a good ppf installation is the skill and quality of the install. A film has a warranty but will it be around 10+ years from now and will the shops also be around to warranty that film if need be.
@@BlackoutTinting very true. Mine has a 12 year warranty. Self healing and hydrophobic. Install is very important, people forget that part. My shops been around for 15 years so I should be good. But also I can take back to Legends PPF and they will honor the warranty they claim 🤞🏼💪🏼💪🏼
Your video makes a lot of sense, especially for someone who values a car and treats it not only as a means to go from point A to point B. Do you have a shop to recommend within the San Francisco Bay Area?
Appreciate this vid! I’m new to all this. Considering a new vehicle, and I want to drive it straight from the dealer to a place to have it protected!!! 😂 So if I understand you correctly - you can have PPF applied AND do ceramic coating? I’ve already decided I’m gonna have ceramic tint done.
awesome video. I am in the ppf and tint business as well. A almost "oem" quality paint job costs of 10k+. not counting down time. a paint job of that caliber can have your car down for over a month for a full repaint. a macco paint job can cost 3k but is horrible looking
are you 100% up front about the need to hand wash before purchase, or is this something you make them seek out on their own? I find this to be the most scummy tatic of PPF companies and their history of warranty support in general is abysmal. . .
Things to mention: Blade cuts on the paint can happen very easily, it is almost impossible to install a PPF Bulk without cutting the paint somewhere. Rockchips will punch through the PPF at higher speeds anyways Redoing PPF after a few years, always has the risk on removing the paint with the PPF. The more you redo PPF and pay thousands, the risk of having to repaint the panel increases. I had my experiences with PPF and I can say that its just not worth it. Id rather let my car age just like i am doing... nothing is forever
Extremely well said, particularly the part about being passionate about your car. Indeed, everyone has their "thing." Cars is my thing including detailing it. Very nicely done Josh.
Did Full Front PPF and never looked back. Now I wanna do the whole car! Car always looks perfect and not to mention self heals as well so no swirl marks! Even if you paint a car rock chips and swirls will happen shortly after.
@SuperSuperPork No way. I never use automatic car washes. Swirls can be very easy to spot on a black car even if washed by hand. With PPF it’s no longer a worry since it self heals any slight imperfections
Makes a ton of sense in cost and retaining your vehicles finish longevity. Personally I'm bit tired of seeing vehicles, especially personal vehicles, having been totally wraped with advertising. It's an eye sore. Ill consider on my next new vehicle.
Solid video bro, thanks! That also shows how much you care about your craft. The bottom line is, if you are going to buy a vehicle that is worth bragging about, you should have included the cost of protecting that investment. If you didn't and then cheap out on caring for it, you will regret it!. Keep up the good work man.
I own a 98 gs400, its going to cost me 2100 for 5 panels to respray and body work. The body shop costs the same regardless of damage per panel so thats irrelevant, my shop still has to block down and sand the panel so they could care less. Having to respray those panels on a pearl paint is nearly impossible to match and is nearly impossible to match touchup too. So even on a 10k car if the paint is good, and you value the quality of your paint, it's absolutely worth protecting it, even just taking a crack at it yourself is worth it just to avoid having to pay those prices in the future for really expensive paint.
the main problem of pff is that probably at some point you need to replace it, as a daily driver the probability you get a stone chip on the highway is quite high. sometimes it could happen the stone chip scratch the ppf (by making a little hole), at this point you ve to replace the ppf... there is where you start to spend 500-700 dollars for the replacement of that area
We did a video on this showing this isn't normally the case, both in our testing and with our clientele. We rarely replace ppf because it is damaged in that way and when we do it is because of track use. There is also a 10 mil film now that is roughly 30% more protective than the previous 8 mil films. Definitely far from a main problem, we've seen only a few cases in the 5 years+ installing.
@@BlackoutTinting interesting, can you drop the link of that video? thanks in advance. another question: pre-cutted ppf can cause blackish dirty stuff on the edges?
@@jo0o0oke3e3er links don't work too well here th-cam.com/video/DihECFEwrA8/w-d-xo.html but it was posted on our channel on March 9th 2023 and titled 'We Threw Rocks at a Rental Car After Protecting It' Edges can get dirty and show up on partial PPF kits and white cars if installers don't do a good job heating edges or if customers just never wash their cars that often.
I appreciate the honesty sir. You’re absolutely correct about us motor enthusiast reason we are watching this videos. I mean why would my little brother spend $150on an NES game? Because there’s a market and a vice for everyone. ‘Merica!!
Reduce costs by DIY PPF sacrificial layers as much as you can. That C8 looks tough to DIY though, hence the cost increase. My model Y wasn't to bad, and turned out ok for full front PPF, and rocker panels on doors. I had the bumper professionally installed though. most complicated piece. rest went on OK with pre-cut PPF, minimal bubbles, and I am getting better at doing it.
Good day Josh; being a car enthusiast, and having an obsession with maintaining my Blue Beauty in showroom condition, I agree 100 % with all your points; my baby would probably never leave the garage, if it was not protected with PPF; thank you very much for the informative content; take care, and have a wonderful weekend.
Agree with many of the points presented here, but I still think that $6k - $10k for full PPF is an absurd cost. Unless you're talking about a $150k+ car, this just isn't worth it. Any decrease in value due to some rock chips will certainly not come close to approaching $10k. I can see maybe $4k for full PPF being worth it on a $60k+ car, but any more than that is just not justified to me. For $40k-$60k cars, just PPF the front-facing exposed areas like the bumper, leading hood edge, mirrors and rockers. Anything less than $40k is just a daily point A to point B econo box, so don't bother.
Our customers are definitely enthusiasts. They are just as proud of their car and want it looking as nice as the more expensive car owners do. I agree though, we don't put PPF on someone's car who thinks of it as point a to b. They might be fine with just the tint or the ceramic coating products we offer.
silentstormstudios I agree. This is not real-world for 99.999% of vehicle owners, including those with high-end SUVs. - I very recently asked 3 body shops how much to repaint my compact SUV. These are real body shops with known good reputations in this area. (Michigan) The range was between 6.5K to 10K. The one at 6.5K showed me a sizeable part of the cost is the cost of materials, and he showed me what the paints and clears themselves cost. - I am not convinced that hand washing the way people actually do it is better for the car's finish than a car wash. Hand washing reality is people will whet down the vehicle with a hose or not-to-high-pressure pressure washer. That gets rid of mud and that's about it. Next they use a sponge and soapy water, repeatedly dunk and clean the sponge in the soapy water bucket, rinse it off with a hose, and dry it with a chamois. Any other drying will be done with recycled bath towels and tee shirts. - Hand washing by people who take pride in their cars went out soon after car washes switched to wide felt strips that are being continually being washed themselves, where they wash a pre-whetted car, where it finishes being sprayed to cause the water to bead off, with the remainder touchlessly blown off with high-horsepower air dryers. IMHO, hand washing vs. the car wash is nor more than a tossup, if that. If the finish protection does not work in the car wash environment, it does not work for 99.999% of the people, not even people with expensive cars that take pride in keeping them looking nice. - The only place I can see something like this might be cost-effective would be for a clear bra...as long as it isn't crazy expensive. BTW, I'm looking at buying 2-year old immaculate vehicle that has amazing paint on it now, and thinking about what I should do to protect it in the beginning, because ever after it is going to be transportation and car washes.
It does make sense, but I would never do this because removing ppf after years could take away your paint with it and after afew years the ppf looks shabby
At the end of 3 years when time to trade in , nobody really cares about paint chip etc , so I don't see a case of having ppf for suv truck etc, unless u have exotic car that is so low on the road eg. Ferrari etc. . Im an installer and I truly don't see a case apart from me having business over customers who just want to spend money on their cars. 😊
We often find people that don't value their vehicle don't value this product. All our customers get it. Most understand phone cases and screen protectors for cellphones though.
This Dude is correct on the cost of good quality paint work! The only draw back to PPF that I see so far is that it needs to be removed and replaced every 3 to 5 years. I am a professional Vinyl installer. I think it definitely has its purpose and can do a great job!
PPF seems like a no brainer for any vehicle above $50k. I'm struggling with deciding on whether to do it on my $28k slightly used vehicle I bought driving it in a state with lots of rock chips.
Well I was planning on doing this to my C8 and you just reinforced my decision!! Sorry I'm not closer to you or I would have you guys do it!! This defiantly sounds like a no brainer to protect your investment. Thanks again..
this would be true, and i agree with you btw that ppf is a great product to purchase, but this video would ONLY be true if the ppf was GUARANTEED to not let any rocks through the film, which we ALL know the ppf manufacturer is NOT going to warranty.
People spend money on a phone case without a 100% GUARANTEE that your phone will be safe. Maybe you don’t though, same is the case here, no pun intended.
Its all about front end PPF for $2000. That’s what is logical and fair to me. Car must cost $30K and better. I’ve never had a rock chip that wasn’t on the front end.
In Eastern Europe a a full body respray,on a 3 Series BMW costs $1500 USD in a paint shop with quality equipment , and the car looks like new . The fact that you are charging thousands of dollars on some plastic film and that some people pay that for their Toyotas is mind boggling .🤯
@@BlackoutTinting you should mention the forums that are plentiful of PPF companies denying warranty claims for the most insane reasons.... This is the main reason I won't use PPF. . .
It may be worth it to the people that don't keep them long. At the body shops, we go through hell, removing the stuff after it's been on so long that it's all cracked up and ugly. I've seen it so bad it was easier to gring it off of a Toyota tundra. It gums up eraser wheels. Heat guns don't help when it comes off in tiny pieces. It's not bad to deal with if it's only a year or two old. Installing it isn't hard, but getting the insurance companies to pay the hours to remove it is next to impossible once it's old and cracked up. I guess im biased since ive been in the body shop business for 30 years
over the 5 year period, how often you would need to repair a car from rock chips that is noticable. I had a lexus es 300 h over 4 years. Never had to repair dings. I did get a scratch or someone open their door into my door. I got them repaired by dealership for free. My cost is zero over the 4 years. it was a 50 thousand dollar car. I drove over 150k miles too.
The value proposition is hard for me to get past personally. I love my vehicles and like them looking mint if possible. Ceramic coating, yes please. I'll probably be buying a new car next year and the WANT is there for PPF....but....I only keep cars 3-5 years. Spending $6k+ on PPF won't equate to $6k more worth of value when I'm ready to move on. If I find a car I think I'd like to hang onto for life, then "maybe". Even then the thought of re-doing a failed PPF in 10 years is also unappealing to me. If the PPF pulls some clear away with it after 10 years then I'm repainting anyway.
@@BlackoutTinting ....I was confused then....thank you for the clarification!!! I'll now seriously consider this when new car time arrives. Rock chips are the bain of my car guy existence!
@@ferrynpalmer3875 You can also just try it out on the front bumper first and then add more later. But getting it on the high impact area early on is key.
Cutco isn't professional grade but costs more than one. Doesn't make sense. You can get a top tier paint job for that kind of money. 7k paint is show room paint.
You forgot to mention that original paint brings more value to a car, specially for sports car, you always hear wow when original is mentioned. You can't compare a professional cook with regular joes. PPF or. wrap is subjective. Repainting a car needs a minimum a week, and you need to find a good paintshop that can match the existing paint, PPF is a day max. You can DIY PPF but the material is still expensive and it's not that easy to install a flawless PPF. IMO PPF protects and showcase the colour of the car you ordered, i will do the whole car if money was no object and keep the paint original, I'm doing only the front for my 2024 C8. thanks for the video.
can't believe we forgot that one, we will pin this comment, thanks
PPF taking a day is exactly the point we’re making, fully painting a car can take a week or more. The labor of a skilled painter is exponentially higher and more expensive than some Joe blow window tint installer who will be installing your PPF. The materials for painting a car cost exponentially more than PPF. The process is far more involved and laborious. So please tell me how PPF should cost anywhere near the same as a paint job? Because it’s done in 1 afternoon? Wouldn’t that mean that it’s relatively easy to do, and the labor costs should be extremely low? So how do we arrive at 6-10k, for 1 afternoon of work, when the materials are a few hundred dollars at most and probably less than that because a lot of the shops are retailers who get wholesale pricing on the film. I grew up around body shops, I know the process for painting a vehicle, it’s literally 1000x the work of PPF installation and the materials are more expensive. So how do you explain the prices being the same? Unless you’re being absolutely scammed. Somehow this industry has fleeced us all into thinking the pricing is normal, it’s not, when compared to virtually anything. I will give them credit PPF installation is maybe the most profitable business in the entire country, virtually 0 overhead, cheap materials, done in an afternoon, 2000-3000% profit on each installation. A couple hundred bucks turns into 9-10k, that might be the most profitable business in the United States, either that or it’s the biggest scam in the United States. Even if you considered the average joe blow tint installers time is worth more than a brain surgeon or rocket scientist, we’re still in the 1000%+ profit range. Just for example 7% is the average profit margin for a small business in the United States, 10% is considered sustainable, 20%-40% would be considered very good/ideal. Could you imagine any other industry with 1000%-3000% profit? The closest I can think of is pharmaceutical companies at 70%. Just for context PPF installation is 20x higher than the most profitable pharmaceutical companies in the world, an industry largely known for being greedy crooks. But hey, get your money I guess.
You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.
@ChrisDavis333 wow that's makes alot of sense!!! Recently I was considering ppf for my c7 but not anymore thx alot plus I don't drive it that often
Yes, I think it makes sense to get the PPF for the full front end for most cars. But also keep in mind after a few years the PPF does show rock chip damage. Little bubbles, etc. they may not be paint damage underneath, but the appearance of damage can still be presented with PPF. Thus in some cases, PPF may need to be redone, which then total comes out to a similar price of re-painting the front end. PPF when you buy the car and then redoing the PPF3 or four years later. And remember any ceramic coating you decided to put on top of the PPF is gone that Hass to be reapplied. There’s no way to put PPF on top of ceramic ceramic must go on top of the PPF.
I do believe in PPF, have it on my two cars. But after seeing the results on older PPF that has aged and trying to remove it is a real pain. My first full hood was destroyed by a big hit after 90-days, a quarter size gash but the repair was to pay another $650 to replace the hood only. Later on the car is hit, again the cost of the PPF was covered but still a cost. Rock chips can damage the paint below, you just do not know until you try to remove the PPF and it peels off the paint. Still I hand wash my cars and even my painted bumpers are torn and pitted on the PPF but they are protected. It is a cost of ownership much like using any type of protection on the clear coat or PPF. FYI, the 10-year warranty normally covers yellowing but not the rock chips so change it sooner than waiting, from one that is removing old ugly PPF.
Just bought a new cuv, OTD price was only $24k. I noticed the dealer had a PPF service, I asked how much it would be to do the whole front end before I drive off the lot, all in all, after some negotiating, $1200 for the front bumper, hood, front fenders and mirrors. Gotta take pride in what you have or you wont take care of the nicer things
so just picked up my 2024 BMW X5 and am seriously considering the PPF but l have questions regarding the maintenance of it. Is wax ever applied? does it maintain the gloss of a painted car? So PPF is better than vinyl wrap? Any issues or tricks needed to wash the car? If i only do the front end will (over time) there be a difference in the surface sheen between the PPF and the painted surfaces?...great, informative and timely discussion.
You don't want to get paste waxes in the edges and don't take a buffer to it. Liquid wax or ceramic is more what it likes. Vinyl and PPF have different purposes - we have a video breakdown on those. If only doing the front end then overtime the back side might really show swirl marks and improper washing techniques - we also have videos regarding that. Our most popular package is front end ppf and ours has a 10 year warranty from XPEL. Check out reviews for your shop and ask to see their install work. Thanks for watching.
I was looking at getting 2025 Highlander I was thinking of doing front part of car with ppf then the rest with ceramic any thoughts
Thanks
If I get PPF only, do I have to be extra careful about washing my car? I typically hand wash my car once a month. Not sure if the soap wash will damage and tear the PPF over time or not.
It's designed to take abuse
As someone who just installed full PPF on his brand new Porsche 992, I will say that I truly regret getting PPF. I’d rather have rock chips than that fake, silicone glossy plastic feel of a car.
I'm at a toss up b/n either. I have a 14 981, 19k miles, that had hood and bumper resprayed and flawless. Like glass. Jet black. Bought and drove home 1300 miles. Rock chips everywhere. Had them touched up, then paint correction and decided ppf and ceramic. Touch ups didn't get knocked down enough, and ppf just enhanced where chips are. Should've left alone. Next porsche, old school wax every 6 weeks. Good enough
Thank you for taking on this burden so broke ass people lile me dont fall for getting something like this with my extremely limited money.
@@cmygamelife don’t do it brother. Edges look ugly after a while also.
@@PQR5CHE thank you. What about vinyl? Any thoughts or advice on that?
@@cmygamelife if you really want a color change, then go for it I guess. Personally I wouldn’t do it.
The bid sheet in the video says 54.8 hours of labor to repaint only the front of the corvette?? WOW!!
Yeah! Cause it’s painted by women and dwarfs…😂
Thank you for your video. I have a question: my company needs me to put some advertisement stickers on the sides of my car. If I have PPF, can I still put the stickers on. The stickers are applied by soap water and they need to be changed every couple months. Will it destroy the PPF?
My car is completely wrapped in PPF and I still do color change vinyl wrap over it. If done correctly, it shouldn't hurt it at all. The glue in PPF is usually much stronger than reg vinyl so it stays put when the vinyl is removed.
The cars I own wouldn’t cost that much but I understand your point. I’m deciding on wether of PPF vs ceramic coating.
If you want to forget about waxing, go ceramic. If you want protection from physical damage go PPF.
Both. PPF on front of vehicle Ceramic everywhere else
Having done PPF on a few cars, a couple of things come to mind. I struggle with the repaint cost comparison to the original PPF cost. If your obsessive enough to repaint because of rock chips, those same rocks mar the PPF over time. So you may have to replace the PPF for aesthetics - doubling its cost because now you’ve done it twice - and making it about the same as the repaint prices Josh was quoted. And there is zero resale value on PPF in my experience. Having said that, a repainted bumper and hood is an negative for resale. I think PPF works value wise on really expensive cars, less so on mass market models. And if I was considering PPF on a new car I’d either do the whole car or none of it. I can always tell when part of a car has PPF, no matter how good the installation is. Just my 2 cents. Great presentation though from Josh as advocate for PPF.
We did a video demonstrating how PPF absorbs the rock impacts, even in extreme scenarios. We also don’t see that much PPF replacement, if we do it’s normally from a track car. You get more resale value from your car looking blemish free, but I think in the video we mention it would be selling to another party not a dealership.
I agree - shit is overrated. I am older so I have owned plenty of cars before ppf. If the cost is reasonable it may be worth it, but some shops are charging 7-10k for full ppf. Ridiculous! It's worth it for an exotic anything else. No.
We don’t charge that much, our most popular package is the full front end for $2100
@@BlackoutTinting how much for a 2023 c8 and a 2023 BMW M3
$2100 & $2100
Do you typically add ceramic coat to the ppf?
I just bought a Tesla Model Y Performance, black on black. It is 6 month old and doesn’t have a PPF. I’m going to put PPF. Would you recommend XPEL Ultimate Fusion PPF or XPEL Ultimate plus and put ceramic coat on it?
We think the coating after PPF makes the most sense. The trim plastic and glass need coated still anyway. And we think it provides the best performance, even if similar.
What are your thoughts on stek dyno shield or optical defense ppf? I dont live in your state so i dont have the option going with xpel with someone i trust.
I don't have PPF, but am going to get it applied to my Mercedes S-Class this week. One of the other things to factor for repainting is that bodyshop work I believe is reported to CarFax. Not sure for cosmetic stuff, but any mention of body work on CarFax will lower the value and dealers will ding you for body work on a CarFax. If I could tell the front end was repainted, I'd question whether it was in a wreck or not even if told by the dealer it was a cosmetic repair.
What film do you use>
XPEL
Hi…. Got a Kia Sportage matte finish this week. I’m willing to go head with ppf however the place I went only giving 2 years warranty on ppf. Usually how long the ppf lasts !?
Woah! That's crazy. Where are you located? Our XPEL ppf is warranted for 10 years.
Do you recommend pre-cut or custom cut, or a mix of both?
Always a mix of both. We’re constantly bulking hoods for complete coverage and getting in new body style vehicles before the patterns come out. When you know the install process it kinda just makes sense when to use what.
@@BlackoutTinting Thank you
Great video.
What is your ppd of choice.
I have a polestar 3 that I’m looks to apply ppd to.
It's PPF as in paint protection film. We have used a bunch but prefer XPEL.
I’m no chef either. But, my kitchen only has Cutco in it. Like Cutco Xpel is all I will use.
Do you have a video on coloured PPF film wraps? I’ve had ceramic coatings done in the past but I’m really curious about the coloured PPF wraps.
They are becoming more popular. We're starting to do them a lot more now that there are more options and we know more tricks on how to get it to look more seamless.
One thing missing from your price comparison: the PPF cost is in today's money. The paint job (if it's done) is far in the future, let's say 10 years (the length of the PPF warranty); the cost of that same paint job will probably go up 50% or more by then. So the cost differential is even higher. So you may end up living with all the scratches and dings anyway, because who wants to put out so much $ for looks anymore when you have other parts breaking down or malfunctioning...
Very good point!
interesting comments, I am one of those that looks at my vehicle in the morning before my commute and in the evening when I get home. I came off a lease and decided to save cash for a couple of years to purchase my dream vehicle. In the interim I used my 2005 tacoma as my primary vehicle. Normally I use the tacoma for work on the property like move mulch/loam, haul debris to landfill, take my dogs out in the field. Felt compelled to spend 3K on rims and 3.5K to repaint the front end only on the tacoma, all to make it look better in the mornings and evenings. Worth it!
most informative video on the PPF process and considerations to weigh that i've seen on youtube yet. well done.
Thanks. Really appreciate that and thanks for commenting.
I hope to get a newer Tesla soon and I’m interested in PPF on at least the front of the car. I’m also the type of person that drives through a car wash once or twice a month. Any thoughts on which particular PPF would be good for me or if I should even bother?
You might be somewhat limited to the shops around you. We have used a few in the past and XPEL is our favorite and one we use.
Skip the PPF and learn to do rock chip repair instead. PPF introduces a whole set of it's own issues that isn't worth the cost for most vehicles and use cases. There are exceptions, but PPF is overwhelmingly time and money poorly spent.
Our customers would like to prevent rock chips, not bandaid them. What brings you to the video?
Worth is definitely subjective - Big fan of front PPF on a “luxury car” not for retaining value but for piece of mind.
my local PPF/tint guy is absolutely excellent. He treats every car like his own baby. He probably spend more time covering up the dash, doors and seats with towels, plastic and masking tape because he doesn't want any interior surface to get wet. His shop is also air conditioned to 60 degrees like the cold television studio I worked at. He said it was so that he and his employees do NOT sweat and sit in a customer's car. His prices are actually reasonable and the tint and PPF jobs are meticulous. Life is short... too short... I don't mind spending money for top quality. (within reason, of course) However, if someone tries to charge me top dollars but deliver subpar tint job, I'll be screaming bloody murder on every review website and social medial until Hawaii freezes over.
What’s the name of the shop? Glad you found a great installer in Hawaii and hopefully you’ve left a review for him like this.
dings on PPF, does not make sense to put new PPF when number of dings make your car look bad. Would warrant cover the cost replace the old PPF and put a new one? is it hard to remove the old PPF?
Great video. Struggling with this exact decision. $3k to protect a $35k car. Many have tried to convince me to not do it since it’s 10% of vehicle cost. I can’t decide. Obviously if car was $70k is 5%. You make some solid points.
We do a lot of front ends which is where most of the beating occurs. We’ve even protected Chevy Cruises. Our customers love their car just as much as one more expensive.
@@BlackoutTinting I’m concerned about seams. I was going to do typical full front, rockers and back bumper which protects back area from wheel debris. May just go full front which is basically 1/2 the price. Don’t like the patch look behind wheels as once the edges accumulate dirt they stand out like a sore thumb.
Your local shop should be able to put you at ease with all that
Don't you buy a $50 case to protect your $1,000 iPhone? lol
@@korswe actually I don’t. $15 case from Amazon is good enough. 😉
I am not a "car person." My car isn't super cheap (Tesla Model Y) but I'm not super emotionally invested in it, I don't really care about this or that car in general except how it relates to making a good buying decision when I need one.
That said, I can SEE things. I can see the rock chips, I can see the swirls and things like that, and for me, I just notice it not looking quite as good. When the rock chips get extreme it bothers me; when I see other cars of the same make that look machine-gunned across the rear door quarter I notice it doesn't look good. For me, PPF was worth it at about a 10% MSRP price target, because it is way less expensive than professional body paint work and way less time-consuming than working over every paint chip by myself properly with a touch-up kit. A little bit of hydrophobicity and window ceramic also helps keep the car clean easily. Especially as a non-car person, saving the time to do keep things looking decent is a big plus.
I could drive this thing just fine without any protection, with terrible paint at the end of a decade. It doesn't really matter to the function of the car. The ceramic on the glass, maybe a little bit of function to make up for terrible auto wipers. It probably won't really affect the resale as this is far from being "special" or "unique."
But for me it saves so much time and is just the easiest way to get continuous piece of mind, so I can enjoy this thing as fully as I can. It helps me feel confident in pounding this car around and it being in good shape without having to spend the effort a real "car person" might.
Do you recommend ceramic coating on top of PPF.
They compliment each other very well, as well as ceramic on vinyl and will extend the life of it.
I got an estimate to ppf a small 2 seater sports car for $9500 in the Bay Area. I decided to go bare and just accept the rock chips.
Definitely on the high end, we're closer to $5500 for that if you want to ship it over.
Have to agree with the others, well made video and effectively explained! Definitely worth getting this message/content translated to the other social media sites like tik tok so it starts to make sense if they are open to listening. Appreciate your honest way of presenting including stating your inherent bias as a ppf installer but then also showing cold hard facts!
The importance of making this video grows almost daily on. Thanks for watching
In DC its 2500 to do the front end of a normal car. It is $600 for a full repaint of the hood. Cutco knives are the amway of cutlery... they are junk stamped knives. Get a good Japanese knife. PPO is the AMWAY of car care. "nuff said.
This made it easier for my decision to do full body PPF on my Porsche Macan..... Thanks for this.
good to hear, we have 2 Porsche's getting full wraps this week!
I love Cutco! My mom loves them they will last forever in a regular household. Not to be used in a restaurant for a couple of reasons
Your mom has good taste
Thats why u pay full coverage insurance on a high end car correct? Deductible is only $500 or $1k
respray without the vehicle + new ppf install without the vehicle. Some people don't want it on the carfax that it was repainted and being out the vehicle that long
How much to film a 77 Vette, just the nose and front bumper?
🤣🤣🤣 no soup for you
Why doesn’t the factory place PPF routinely?
Probably just part of the wheelhouse they don't want a part of
Great Video. I’ll share this with all the “Chips don’t happen to my car believers”. Will be doing some videos on real world damage to cars here in the NY
Thanks for watching
10 year warranty covers what? cost of putting a new PPF after 3 years. It would be < 10 years, so you get a huge discount or is it free?
Excellent presentation Josh!
This was my first exposure to PPF. I knew virtually nothing about the product, process and cost.
I spoke to a number of vehicle enthusiasts about the benefits of the services and did my research.
I am so glad I had PPF and Ceramic Coating done for my entire 2022 C8 HTC!
I am thankful that I trusted you and Blackout Tinting to perform the work.
Quality, Quality and Quality Workmanship!
It was great working with you and your employees.
Thanks again!
Doug Weaver
Thank you Doug!!
I have bought many Porsches and traded in them. While I’ve been doing these, I’ve learn some lessons. 1. If you want to keep the value of your exotic category cars, you need to maintain good paint conditions. It affects the resale values very a lot. Toyota or Ford buyers do not care the cosmetic problems. They buy cars because they need it. But exotic car buyers care about the cosmetic damages. Because they buy those cars for fun and pleasures. 2. Do not wrap your car. Even tho you maintain your car so perfect and you are the original owner, still you will loose a ton of money when you resale your cars. Many dealers do not even want to buy your car if it is wrapped. 3. When you resale your car, PPF doesn’t affect resale value at all. Still, the film protects the original paint, so your car will hold the value much longer.
Pretty expensive in the US. I had my SUV repainted everything for just $260 from a trusted paint guy here in the Philippines. This includes labor and materials. :)
Regular shops costs around $600 last I checked.
So what brings you to watch this video?
Thanks for the honest information. Very informative!
no problem
Great video. For me having a car looking great is important and the resale are both worth the money to get Xpel. Wouldn't have a nice car without it.
Thanks for watching, we obviously agree
@@BlackoutTinting More than 100% if that were possible. LOL
Is Legends PPF good ? Thanks 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼
Never heard of it, but a lot of films are getting a lot more comparable nowadays. The other part of a good ppf installation is the skill and quality of the install. A film has a warranty but will it be around 10+ years from now and will the shops also be around to warranty that film if need be.
@@BlackoutTinting very true. Mine has a 12 year warranty. Self healing and hydrophobic. Install is very important, people forget that part. My shops been around for 15 years so I should be good. But also I can take back to Legends PPF and they will honor the warranty they claim 🤞🏼💪🏼💪🏼
Your video makes a lot of sense, especially for someone who values a car and treats it not only as a means to go from point A to point B. Do you have a shop to recommend within the San Francisco Bay Area?
check out xpel.com dealer locator, we're not too familiar with shops on the west coast
Appreciate this vid! I’m new to all this. Considering a new vehicle, and I want to drive it straight from the dealer to a place to have it protected!!! 😂 So if I understand you correctly - you can have PPF applied AND do ceramic coating? I’ve already decided I’m gonna have ceramic tint done.
Yep! It's our most popular package to do both.
And if you're gonna drive from the dealership make sure you get the tracwrap to protect it beforehand, I link in our description
Always good to hear comparisons like this! Great job, guys!
Thanks fellow PPF goer
awesome video. I am in the ppf and tint business as well. A almost "oem" quality paint job costs of 10k+. not counting down time. a paint job of that caliber can have your car down for over a month for a full repaint. a macco paint job can cost 3k but is horrible looking
are you 100% up front about the need to hand wash before purchase, or is this something you make them seek out on their own? I find this to be the most scummy tatic of PPF companies and their history of warranty support in general is abysmal. . .
@SuperSuperPork this all makes sense now… sounds like you may have fibbed a little with a warranty claim 🥴
Things to mention:
Blade cuts on the paint can happen very easily, it is almost impossible to install a PPF Bulk without cutting the paint somewhere.
Rockchips will punch through the PPF at higher speeds anyways
Redoing PPF after a few years, always has the risk on removing the paint with the PPF. The more you redo PPF and pay thousands, the risk of having to repaint the panel increases.
I had my experiences with PPF and I can say that its just not worth it.
Id rather let my car age just like i am doing... nothing is forever
Extremely well said, particularly the part about being passionate about your car. Indeed, everyone has their "thing." Cars is my thing including detailing it. Very nicely done Josh.
Thank you!!
Did Full Front PPF and never looked back. Now I wanna do the whole car! Car always looks perfect and not to mention self heals as well so no swirl marks! Even if you paint a car rock chips and swirls will happen shortly after.
💪💪
swirl marks?! did you use an automatic car wash? If so, your warranty is now voidable. . . why I stay away from PPF. . .
@SuperSuperPork No way. I never use automatic car washes. Swirls can be very easy to spot on a black car even if washed by hand. With PPF it’s no longer a worry since it self heals any slight imperfections
Makes a ton of sense in cost and retaining your vehicles finish longevity. Personally I'm bit tired of seeing vehicles, especially personal vehicles, having been totally wraped with advertising. It's an eye sore. Ill consider on my next new vehicle.
Solid video bro, thanks! That also shows how much you care about your craft. The bottom line is, if you are going to buy a vehicle that is worth bragging about, you should have included the cost of protecting that investment. If you didn't and then cheap out on caring for it, you will regret it!. Keep up the good work man.
There are cars now that have quad coat paint such as some Mazda models
Yes! I ran into that with a red camaro last year. Crazy money to repair!
This was the most reasonable end to end explanation
Thanks for watching
Pretty comprehensive analysis 👍👍
Thanks for watching, glad it helped
I own a 98 gs400, its going to cost me 2100 for 5 panels to respray and body work. The body shop costs the same regardless of damage per panel so thats irrelevant, my shop still has to block down and sand the panel so they could care less. Having to respray those panels on a pearl paint is nearly impossible to match and is nearly impossible to match touchup too. So even on a 10k car if the paint is good, and you value the quality of your paint, it's absolutely worth protecting it, even just taking a crack at it yourself is worth it just to avoid having to pay those prices in the future for really expensive paint.
the main problem of pff is that probably at some point you need to replace it, as a daily driver the probability you get a stone chip on the highway is quite high. sometimes it could happen the stone chip scratch the ppf (by making a little hole), at this point you ve to replace the ppf... there is where you start to spend 500-700 dollars for the replacement of that area
We did a video on this showing this isn't normally the case, both in our testing and with our clientele. We rarely replace ppf because it is damaged in that way and when we do it is because of track use. There is also a 10 mil film now that is roughly 30% more protective than the previous 8 mil films.
Definitely far from a main problem, we've seen only a few cases in the 5 years+ installing.
@@BlackoutTinting interesting, can you drop the link of that video? thanks in advance. another question: pre-cutted ppf can cause blackish dirty stuff on the edges?
@@jo0o0oke3e3er links don't work too well here th-cam.com/video/DihECFEwrA8/w-d-xo.html but it was posted on our channel on March 9th 2023 and titled 'We Threw Rocks at a Rental Car After Protecting It'
Edges can get dirty and show up on partial PPF kits and white cars if installers don't do a good job heating edges or if customers just never wash their cars that often.
Well said!!😊 like i always say to people: installing ppf is like installing a screen cover to your brand new phone.
You should compare PPF to touch up paint/clear coat/polishing vs repainting the whole car.
this is a great idea, I'll add it to the list
Excellent video. Thank you so much.
Which plot cutter do you use to cut your Xpel ppf?
We prefer graphtec at our shops!
XPEL recommend the Graphtec fc9000 and also are a distributor.
9:32 and I quote, “A paint job nowadays is probably $20,000 for same color, because of inflation.” 😂😮
Go get a quote to change the color on an entire car, on a brand new car, from a high quality reputable body shop. 20k will be cheap.
@@BlackoutTintingthat’s not what he said. Listen to him again.
I appreciate the honesty sir. You’re absolutely correct about us motor enthusiast reason we are watching this videos. I mean why would my little brother spend $150on an NES game? Because there’s a market and a vice for everyone. ‘Merica!!
$150 for nes game? which is he goin for? the gold Zelda? Maybe original Contra?
Reduce costs by DIY PPF sacrificial layers as much as you can. That C8 looks tough to DIY though, hence the cost increase. My model Y wasn't to bad, and turned out ok for full front PPF, and rocker panels on doors. I had the bumper professionally installed though. most complicated piece. rest went on OK with pre-cut PPF, minimal bubbles, and I am getting better at doing it.
Spitting truth Josh. My example is the perfect example why OPF is a no-brainer.
💪💪 Thanks Doc
EXCEPTIONALLY helpful video!!!
Good to hear
you were great bro. this was great.
Good day Josh; being a car enthusiast, and having an obsession with maintaining my Blue Beauty in showroom condition, I agree 100 % with all your points; my baby would probably never leave the garage, if it was not protected with PPF; thank you very much for the informative content; take care, and have a wonderful weekend.
That car sure is beautiful!! Gotta keep it that way 💯
Thank you Josh.
Agree with many of the points presented here, but I still think that $6k - $10k for full PPF is an absurd cost. Unless you're talking about a $150k+ car, this just isn't worth it. Any decrease in value due to some rock chips will certainly not come close to approaching $10k. I can see maybe $4k for full PPF being worth it on a $60k+ car, but any more than that is just not justified to me. For $40k-$60k cars, just PPF the front-facing exposed areas like the bumper, leading hood edge, mirrors and rockers. Anything less than $40k is just a daily point A to point B econo box, so don't bother.
Our customers are definitely enthusiasts. They are just as proud of their car and want it looking as nice as the more expensive car owners do. I agree though, we don't put PPF on someone's car who thinks of it as point a to b. They might be fine with just the tint or the ceramic coating products we offer.
silentstormstudios I agree. This is not real-world for 99.999% of vehicle owners, including those with high-end SUVs.
- I very recently asked 3 body shops how much to repaint my compact SUV. These are real body shops with known good reputations in this area. (Michigan) The range was between 6.5K to 10K. The one at 6.5K showed me a sizeable part of the cost is the cost of materials, and he showed me what the paints and clears themselves cost.
- I am not convinced that hand washing the way people actually do it is better for the car's finish than a car wash. Hand washing reality is people will whet down the vehicle with a hose or not-to-high-pressure pressure washer. That gets rid of mud and that's about it. Next they use a sponge and soapy water, repeatedly dunk and clean the sponge in the soapy water bucket, rinse it off with a hose, and dry it with a chamois. Any other drying will be done with recycled bath towels and tee shirts.
- Hand washing by people who take pride in their cars went out soon after car washes switched to wide felt strips that are being continually being washed themselves, where they wash a pre-whetted car, where it finishes being sprayed to cause the water to bead off, with the remainder touchlessly blown off with high-horsepower air dryers. IMHO, hand washing vs. the car wash is nor more than a tossup, if that. If the finish protection does not work in the car wash environment, it does not work for 99.999% of the people, not even people with expensive cars that take pride in keeping them looking nice.
- The only place I can see something like this might be cost-effective would be for a clear bra...as long as it isn't crazy expensive.
BTW, I'm looking at buying 2-year old immaculate vehicle that has amazing paint on it now, and thinking about what I should do to protect it in the beginning, because ever after it is going to be transportation and car washes.
The problem with PPF after 3-4 years of having it on paint and removing it fades the paint and it also damages it.
Maybe the cheap stuff or cheap paint jobs.
It does make sense, but I would never do this because removing ppf after years could take away your paint with it and after afew years the ppf looks shabby
We've done recent videos to debunk this
At the end of 3 years when time to trade in , nobody really cares about paint chip etc , so I don't see a case of having ppf for suv truck etc, unless u have exotic car that is so low on the road eg. Ferrari etc. . Im an installer and I truly don't see a case apart from me having business over customers who just want to spend money on their cars. 😊
We often find people that don't value their vehicle don't value this product. All our customers get it. Most understand phone cases and screen protectors for cellphones though.
This Dude is correct on the cost of good quality paint work! The only draw back to PPF that I see so far is that it needs to be removed and replaced every 3 to 5 years. I am a professional Vinyl installer. I think it definitely has its purpose and can do a great job!
Maybe in the OLDEN days, but XPEL has a 10 year warranty on their film failing prematurely
@@BlackoutTintingit covers strong hits? What does it mean failing
PPF seems like a no brainer for any vehicle above $50k. I'm struggling with deciding on whether to do it on my $28k slightly used vehicle I bought driving it in a state with lots of rock chips.
hmm that's a tough call.. touch up paint applied underneath or on top of ppf can be an option
Great Video! Thank you 🔥👏💪🫶
Glad you liked it!
Well I was planning on doing this to my C8 and you just reinforced my decision!! Sorry I'm not closer to you or I would have you guys do it!! This defiantly sounds like a no brainer to protect your investment. Thanks again..
Glad we could help, definitely get that C8 protected!
How hard is it to diy ppf? What do you think about ppf vs something like Dr colorchip?
We actually did a diy video on PPF, you should check it out
The issue is ppf is not a one time cost. It is not a protective shield. Even six months of damage to ppf will look ugly.
nope
@BlackoutTinting plenty of videos that will disagree with you if you don't believe me
Guess they haven’t convinced you of you’re still looking 🤷
this would be true, and i agree with you btw that ppf is a great product to purchase, but this video would ONLY be true if the ppf was GUARANTEED to not let any rocks through the film, which we ALL know the ppf manufacturer is NOT going to warranty.
People spend money on a phone case without a 100% GUARANTEE that your phone will be safe. Maybe you don’t though, same is the case here, no pun intended.
Its all about front end PPF for $2000. That’s what is logical and fair to me. Car must cost $30K and better. I’ve never had a rock chip that wasn’t on the front end.
That’s some sound logic. That’s our most popular package, Salim.
The reason Cutco is expensive/overpriced is because it's an MLM and they have to distribute the proceeds amongst the uplines and downlines.
And they have a lifetime warranty and offer free sharpening
In Eastern Europe a a full body respray,on a 3 Series BMW costs $1500 USD in a paint shop with quality equipment , and the car looks like new . The fact that you are charging thousands of dollars on some plastic film and that some people pay that for their Toyotas is mind boggling .🤯
we just opened our 4th shop, thanks for watching
Great video, don’t forget to mention that PPF has to be redone every 10-12 years! If people keep cars that long !
We mention a 10 year warranty, I think, doesn’t mean it has to be removed then.
@@BlackoutTinting you should mention the forums that are plentiful of PPF companies denying warranty claims for the most insane reasons.... This is the main reason I won't use PPF. . .
We warranty stuff all the time 🤷♂️
If by 10-12 years you mean 1-2 years, then sure. Go look up some 6 month PPF examples.
But it's a ten year warranty.. do you know what a warranty is or are we assuming too much?
Ever heard of Dr color chip?
yes
I get cars painted at shops all the time and I never paid 5k for the whole car and I get the work done at real shops and I always do a color change.
That's impressively cheap
Best argument for PPF is that it’s self-healing, you are never gonna have light scratches on your car again
5k is way too much if the car is not at least 100k. The resale value is not going to compensate that much.
Our customers love keeping their vehicles looking good
Here in EU we can get full PPF for a wagon for 3-4k USD. But we make also much less money so there's that 😁
It may be worth it to the people that don't keep them long. At the body shops, we go through hell, removing the stuff after it's been on so long that it's all cracked up and ugly. I've seen it so bad it was easier to gring it off of a Toyota tundra. It gums up eraser wheels. Heat guns don't help when it comes off in tiny pieces.
It's not bad to deal with if it's only a year or two old. Installing it isn't hard, but getting the insurance companies to pay the hours to remove it is next to impossible once it's old and cracked up.
I guess im biased since ive been in the body shop business for 30 years
over the 5 year period, how often you would need to repair a car from rock chips that is noticable. I had a lexus es 300 h over 4 years. Never had to repair dings. I did get a scratch or someone open their door into my door. I got them repaired by dealership for free. My cost is zero over the 4 years. it was a 50 thousand dollar car. I drove over 150k miles too.
People get lots of rock chips in our area since we use a lot of rock salt in the winter. Check out our most recent PPF test video.
@@BlackoutTinting I live in Valdosta Georgia but travel to Florida frequently. Do see construction a lot. Highway being repaved.
Our roadways are not equal my friend.
Xpel or LLUMAR PLATINUM????
XPELLLLLLL
Thank you. You’ve proven to me the value of protecting my car with PPF.
Glad to help
I bought a new grill and it cost me $100
Probably got a nice Delmonico on there too 🤌
Great video
Thank you
The value proposition is hard for me to get past personally. I love my vehicles and like them looking mint if possible. Ceramic coating, yes please. I'll probably be buying a new car next year and the WANT is there for PPF....but....I only keep cars 3-5 years. Spending $6k+ on PPF won't equate to $6k more worth of value when I'm ready to move on.
If I find a car I think I'd like to hang onto for life, then "maybe". Even then the thought of re-doing a failed PPF in 10 years is also unappealing to me. If the PPF pulls some clear away with it after 10 years then I'm repainting anyway.
You don't have to spend 6k on a car to protect it, we always recommend the high impact areas
@@BlackoutTinting ....If I decided to just cover the high impact areas would I notice the difference between the covered and non-covered areas?
Nope. We hide most of the edges and the ones we can’t, you have to be inches away from the vehicle to know they are there.
@@BlackoutTinting ....I was confused then....thank you for the clarification!!! I'll now seriously consider this when new car time arrives. Rock chips are the bain of my car guy existence!
@@ferrynpalmer3875 You can also just try it out on the front bumper first and then add more later. But getting it on the high impact area early on is key.
Cutco isn't professional grade but costs more than one. Doesn't make sense. You can get a top tier paint job for that kind of money. 7k paint is show room paint.
I challenge you to get a quote from a "top tier shop" for a full resprsy for 7k and email it to me at josh@blackoutempire.com.